BEND, Ore. — For years pastor Terry Bradley of New Life Community tried to be entirely real with everyone.

That experiment is now over.

“Authenticity is bogus,” he says. “It’s never real. Nobody knows himself well enough to be fully authentic, and trying to self-divulge all the time breeds shallow relationships because it denies the complexity and mystery of human personalities.”

The Bible is on his side, he contends. Jesus wasn’t “constantly open and frank” and didn’t even speak plainly to his disciples until the Last Supper, Bradley says, pointing to John 16:29. Jesus also spoke in parables and obscured his messianic identity for three years.

“If Jesus didn’t try to be authentic, why am I trying so hard?” he says.

Bradley also cites John 2:24-25, “But Jesus would not entrust himself to them … for he knew what was in a man.”

“I don’t see much benefit in everybody knowing everything about me,” says Bradley. “Jesus’ example is to be guarded and realistic about human nature. I feel good about reserving some of myself for me.” •